Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 14: Hundred Family Names

"Brown sugar and salt!"

Sugar was a luxury. Although brown sugar and white sugar were already very popular in this era, it was not something that ordinary poor people could afford. A pound of brown sugar cost forty cents, and that was because Jiangjin County had its own sugar factory. It would be even more expensive in other places that did not produce sugar.

With the remaining twenty coins, Chen Gu bought a pound of salt, which is a necessity that is always needed.

Chen Gu's voice was not loud, but as soon as he finished speaking, a little girl of three or four years old rushed out from the first room of the east wing, shouting, "Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar!"

The little girl struggled hard on her short legs and rushed towards Chen Gu, then hugged Chen Gu's legs and looked at him with a pair of big, blinking eyes, "Uncle Master, Second Sister wants some candy."

Chen Gu's voice was not loud, but Chen Ermei's voice was loud. The doors of several rooms were opened, even the door of the main room was opened. Master's wife Chen Diao was standing at the door and looked over with a smile.

Chen Gu squatted down and said in a very fast and low voice: "Second sister, don't say anything. Tomorrow, Master Uncle will bring candy for you to eat alone. Now, second sister, take the candy to mother-in-law."

In the eyes of others, Chen Gu just squatted down and hugged Chen Ermei to comfort her, and then Chen Ermei stumbled towards Chen Diaoshi carrying the three bags of things brought by Chen Gu.

"Grandma, Master Uncle has brought candy to our house!"

Chen Diao took the three envelopes from her granddaughter, squatted down, and whispered to Chen Ermei with a half-smile, "You clever little thing, what good did your uncle promise you?"

"No!" Chen Ermei answered in the same low voice, her voice full of sincerity and innocence.

Chen Diao stood up and looked at the people in the yard, and announced, "Don't wait any longer. Let's eat sweet dumplings tomorrow morning."

"Oh~!" The children cheered instantly.

The sour scholar couldn't help but sigh. He knew that his wife was not a stingy person, but the family did not have much income. Even if she felt sorry for the children, she could only play the role of a wicked mother-in-law.

After all, children are greedy, and if you let them do whatever they want, things will be a mess.

Chen Gu also understood this truth, so he did not dare to give candy to Chen Ermei alone in public, even if Chen Ermei showed a pitiful expression, because this was related to the rules.

The dignity of the sour scholar and his wife must be maintained.

The two sons of the Chen family have not separated from the family. They have five or six grandchildren, and a little daughter who is still unmarried. With so many people, it would be a mess if there were no rules.

Everyone smiled at Chen Gu in a friendly manner and then returned to their own rooms. Chen Ermei rolled her eyes and followed Chen Gu into the private school.

After the family business of the sour scholar Chen Minghua went bankrupt, he stopped allowing his descendants to study. His two sons actually did study, but they did not take the imperial examinations. Instead, they worked in the yamen with the sour scholar, one as a constable and the other as a prison guard.

The monthly salary of the father and his two sons could barely support the family, but they did have some extra income. Although it was not much, it was enough to make ends meet. At the same time, the work in the yamen could also help the clansmen. In this way, Jiangjin Chen family would give some subsidies to the Suan Xiucai's family.

But even so, with such a large family to support, luxuries such as sugar and meat were not often available.

Therefore, it is easy to understand why Chen Ermei sticks to Chen Gu at this time, hoping that Chen Gu can better fulfill his promise.

The sour scholar looked at the granddaughter who was clinging to Chen Gu, and did not drive her away, but started to explain the Hundred Family Surnames. To be honest, Chen Gu asked himself that he had studied junior high school, but he had not finished studying the Hundred Family Surnames after more than ten days.

It is easy to know those few hundred characters, but it is difficult to learn the origin and history of each surname.

According to Suan Xiucai, he would only teach Chen Gu three books, namely Bai Qian San, so there was no need to rush. He could study Hundred Family Surnames for one year, Thousand Character Literature for one year, and Three Character Classic for another year. If there was still time, he could also learn the Analects of Confucius.

This time refers to the time before Chen the Executioner officially became the executioner.

If you learn Bai Qian San well and thoroughly, even if you cannot reach the level of taking the imperial examination, you can go out and say that you are a scholar, and there will be no problem there.

After the sour scholar finished talking about Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li, he went on to talk about Jiang, Yang, Han, Xia, Diao, Cao, Dong, Bian, Bai and Zhou, which are the ten major surnames in Jiangjin County today.

Today we talked about the surname Bian.

"Bian is pronounced as Bian. This character is only used for surnames. There is only one similar character. Bianliang was the name of Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty. The Bian River is a river that originates in Henan Province. After merging with the Si River, it flows into the Huai River. The Sishui County beside the Si River is the former site of the Bian State.

Bian Ming was the seventh-generation grandson of Huangdi, Gun was Bian Ming's son, and Yu was Gun's son. Shun executed Gun for his ineffective flood control, and later granted Bian Ming the land of Bian and established the ancient Bian State (also known as the Bian Ming State). Dayu's son Qi replaced Boyi (some say he killed Boyi) and established the Xia Dynasty. As a state with the same surname, the ancient Bian State was protected by the Xia Dynasty and developed well.

After the Xia Dynasty in the Shang Dynasty, the "Shandong Tongzhi" records: "Tang conquered Youbian." He also gave the land of Bian to the descendants of Bo Yi - "Tang conquered Youbian, preserved its sacrifices, divided its land, and granted Feichang, a descendant of Bo Yi, the state of Yan (now Qufu City), which also included the west of the county and the territories of Qufu, Zou, and Fei. Although the name of the state was changed, the land was still named Bian."

There were records of the State of Bian until the Spring and Autumn Period, when it was finally destroyed by the State of Lu. After that, the State of Bian ceased to exist, and its people scattered in all directions with the surname Bian.

Cao Cao's queen was a woman named Bian. During the Jin Dynasty, members of the Bian clan were active in the court. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Bian Cui was the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and six of his brothers were appointed as prime ministers. They were known as the Six Dragons of the Bian Family, which was similar to the Eight Dragons of the Xun Family in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Bian Cui's son, Bian Xu, was also the Minister of the Central Secretariat. He died for his country with his two sons. He was awarded the titles of Shizhong, General of the Cavalry, and the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi. He was posthumously named Zhongzhen and buried on the west side of Chaotian Palace in Nanjing.

Afterwards, the Bian family's hall was named Zhongzheng Hall, and most of the Bian family members were loyal people throughout the dynasties. "

"There are loyal people in every dynasty?" Upon hearing this, Chen Gu couldn't help but laugh!

Since you are a loyal person of the previous dynasty, you should not be an official in the current dynasty. After all, taking the Ming and Qing dynasties as an example, the Qing Dynasty was ruthless to the Zhu family.

The sour scholar sighed and said, "They are indeed loyal people in every dynasty. Take this dynasty for example. The Bian family in Jiangjin County did not have any members participate in the imperial examination until the reign of Emperor Yongzheng. Before that, they served the previous dynasty for a long time without serving in the government."

Chen Gu couldn't help but be moved when he heard this. This was much better than the Kong family who had always been willing to surrender.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, it did not care about the literati at all. It just killed and killed along the way. Anyway, after conquering the world, there would be great scholars to debate for them.

The first is the Kong family.

In comparison, the Bian family is much better.

(End of this chapter)